The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink

The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink is an adventure game for the PC released on October 18, 1997 by Wanderlust Interactive. It is based on the Pink Panther cartoon and is a sequel to The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril.

Plot

After the successful events in The Pink Panther Passport to Peril, the Pink Panther gives up his life as an agent for Inspector Clouseau and gets a job as a door-to-door-salesman. However, his more slow-paced life is soon interrupted as Nathan, son of the lunatic dentist and teeth-based jewelry collector Dr. Periowinkle, steals utensils from the warlock Dr. Strangeblood and accidentally transforms the little girl Violet, daughter of a guest at Dr. Periowinkle's auction party in his mansion, into a giant, anthropomorphic wombat (with some bat-like physical features). It falls to the Pink Panther to find Strangeblood's book of spell reversals so that he can undo the transformation before it's too late.

Armed with a book of knowledge that contains information on the indigenous people, languages, clothing, entertainment, art, history, nature, and foods of each pertinent area, players must guide Pink on a quest spanning five countries across the globe to find a counterspell. As they make their way through locales such as Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Russia (Siberia), and Kenya, players will need to find objects that can be used or traded to acquire items crucial to solving the mystery. Helping Pink travel between locations is Spot, a sentient black hole that he steals from Strangeblood's magical laboratory in the forest outside Dr. Periowinkle's mansion.

Pink's first mission in the game is to undo Nathan's work and fulfill Violet's wish of becoming an "immortal, magical ninja princess mermaid" in the process. Though he succeeds in gathering the magic elements needed to complete the spell, his success is only temporary, and the transformed Violet falls asleep in midair after consuming a poisonous apple. Pink is then tasked with finding the right ingredients to awaken Violet, but the resulting concoction, when combined with a mispronounced incantation from Nathan, causes her to become possessed by Echidna of Greek mythology. Finally, Pink must outwit two gorgons and convince the Greek sea god Poseidon to travel with him to Dr. Periowinkle's mansion. Once they return to the party, Strangeblood appears suddenly and reveals that he does indeed have a good heart when he exorcises Echidna, freeing Violet and restoring her to her original form. Poseidon arrests Echidna and departs with her.

When the auction party ends, Dr. Periowinkle and his wife reprimand Nathan for being the primary cause of so much chaos even though Nathan confesses that he only wanted to learn how to be a magician. However, Strangeblood consoles Nathan and explains the importance of being responsible with magic, even stating that he is impressed with Nathan's poisoned apple from earlier. He subsequently recruits Nathan as his apprentice and brainwashes the boy's parents into agreement. After Strangeblood takes Nathan to his forest laboratory, Pink expresses satisfaction with this adventure's happy ending.^[2]

The game features ten original songs and over 300 fact-filled pages containing information and photos of the countries in which players find themselves. It is also characterized by comic graphics similar to those from the animated shorts.

References